Storage building



Oct. 17, s BLACK STORAGE BUILDING A TTORNE Y.

Filed July 5, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I N VEN TOR /Y/I/ 5. /q Q( M Z/mq lATTORNEY.

Oct. 17, 1933. N 5- BLACK 1,931,402

STORAGE BUILDING Filed July 5, 1929 s sheets-sheet s Patented Oct. 17,v1933 UNITE-o STATES 1Plirilzit'rA OFFICE STORAGE BUILDING .Nolan s.Black, Detroit, Mich., assignor of onehalf to Wilfred V.' Casgrain,VGrosse Pointe Farms, Mich.

Application July 5, 1929. SerialiNo. 376,250

' 5 claims. (o1.214- 1s.1)

This invention relates to storage buildings, its object being to providea comparatively simple and inexpensive structure for the storage ofautomobiles or merchandise of various characters. The building mayextend either above or below the ground as may be convenient` and afeature and object of the invention is to provide a structure having `acentral elevator including a'platform or floor provided with rails toreceive a` truck, the structure having vlongitudinal pas'- sageways onopposite sides of the elevator shaft containing rails onto which vthetruclrmay be moved. In conjunction with this elevator Aand the centrallongitudinal vpassageways are provided two side storage structuresforming a component part of the building and-havinga-series ofcompartments which are of awidth to receive an automobile for instanceand,'by'the use of the longitudinal passageways forJ movement of thetruck, an automobile may be `placed-in any compartment as may bedesired. Y

A feature and lobject of the invention is also involved in theconstruction andarrangementof a truck with a movable platform on which*the automobile or merchandiseto be storedis carried and by which theautomobile or merchan dise is moved into the compartment onf-themat-vform which remains with the article stored-until its removal, the truckbeing provided with mechanism for transferring theY platform to thestorage compartment and vice versa.

A Yfurther object of the invention is`to provide a structure erectedbelow the streetsurface and into which an automobile may be taken'fromlongitudinal section ofthe building showing the elevator. g

Fig. 2 is a transverse section thereof.

Fig. 3V is an enlarged sectional view taken through the elevator, truckand storage' compartment.

Fig. 4 is an end viewof the truck showing the mechanism employed intransferringjjthreeplatform and material from the truck to the storagecompartment.

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section of 'thelon'gitudinal passageway showingthe' truck and the mechanism for operation of the platform.

Fig. 6 is a'detail of a portion of the mecha-` nism used in transferringthe platform` into a compartment. e ""Fig. 'Ir is a diagrammaticillustration kof a construction that may be utilized when the buildingis erected above ground.

The building when erected vbelow ground is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 therebeing several stories and, as will probably be best `understood from-Fig. 2, there is a'centralshaft lffor theelevator illustrateddiagrammatically at 2. This elevator containsa platform having the rails3 thereon and on one side of the elevator shaft are a series ofstoragecompartments 4, 4 and on the opposite side are the compartments5, 5 etc. e e

Itisto be understood that these side portions containing `thecompartments 4 and 5 extend for a considerable'distance each way, Fig.`1 showing the compartments 6 of the .same character and in the sameline so that itwill be realized that-thefstorage compartments extendalong the building in end toend relationship the several e' storiesbeing duplicate in construction. The longitudinal passageways at twoopposite sides l ofthe elevator-shaft havea floor 7 provided with rails8which will permit a truck, illustrated yin Fig.'5, to be ,movedffrom theplatform onto these rails in fthe-passageways. yAs there is a passage-Way for each storyv of the building the elevator containing-the truckand the rmerchandise tov be stored may be moved toalignment with thefloor 'lof any passageway either one side or the other of the'lelevatorshaft and the truckmoved thereonto down thepassageway to anyA of thecomparte ments 4 or 5.oneither side of thelongitudinal passageways; Theunderground construction has a feature providinganjobject of'theinvention that is specifically adapted for theV storage Yofautomobiles. This will lbe vunderstood fromJ the following- As shown inFig. 2 the upper end, of the-buil'ding'9 is at the street level belowwhich the building is constructed. The elevator shaft 1 has a movable`platform 10 which closes the opening to the shaftpermitting a vehicle tomove over the shaft when closed.

The elevator may bezprovided withstandards of the desired -numberillustrated diagrammatically at 11'in Fig. 2 which, when the elevatorrises in the .shaft picks up the platform 10 raising the same toasuflicient height above the floor of .theelevator so that when theelevatonoor comes to the street level a vehicle may be driven vator andthe occupants may leave the vehicle i nally ofthe movable platform 2()while the rollers 18 and 19 are positioned in rows runningtransverselyofthe platform 15 of the truck, the axes V at the Vcurb and the vehicle betaken by an attendant to any storage compartment.

it is in storage and thus be returned to the owner upon demand inexactly the same condition as it was when placed in storage. This wouldsolve the parking problem for many of our large retail business houses,the attendant for instance taking the owners vehicles off the streetduring the time he or she is shopping or attending to matters in thegeneral locality of the building. It is also to be observed that if thestructure were to be built above ground for the storage of automobilesAor merchandise, the vehicle may be driven onto the platforn 13 of Fig.7 at the street level and moved upwardly in an elevator shaft indi,-cated generally at 14, Ythe building of Fig.l 7 being in all generalrespects as to the passageways and compartments asis the case with theunderground structure above described.

An essential feature of the invention is in the provision of a truckillustrated in Figs. 3, 4 and 5 whichhas a fixedv platform 15 supported"by the truck rwheels 16 and 17 adjacent opposite ends thereof and onthis platform or .base 15 is provided a series of rollers 18 toward*onev end and 19 toward'the opposite end on which `is supported amovable .platform-20. j'ffhis movable platorm may have a dat surfaceonto which all characters of merchandise packaged or otherwise may bedeposited for storage or it may be provided trackways 271 and 22 forminggrooves Avor guides enabling a person'to drive an. automobileillustrated by dotted lines 23 in Figs. 3 and 5. These guides or runwaysy21l and 22 extend longitudi-` of the rollerslying longitudinally of thetruck body. JiThile `1 have described rollers for this purpose any othersuitable means may be used. Each side compartment 4 and 5 is providedwith a corresponding series of rollers 24 secured on the floor 25 ofthecompartment, and it is .to be noted thatY the oors'fl Yof therunways arepositionedbelow the floors425 of the compartments in order. that therollers 18 and. 19 on the truck lwill lie in horizontal'alignment withthe rollers 24 of a compartment so that in lmoving a platform 20 fromthe truck it will pass ontothe rollers ofa compartment. a

The mechanism for transferring theplatform a compartment a on l eitheroneside or the other of the elevator shaft con- .V sists of a powerdevice illustrated diagrammatically fatA 26 in Fig. -5.` This powerdevice may be of any. convenient typevbut.` is here intended to indicatean electrical apparatus having a control handle 27. l

Whatever. the form of power apparatus may be itis to be understood asbeing controllable vby the'. operator and when in operation rotates ashaft having the gear 28 thereon ,This motor apparatus 26 is mounted ontheupper face of the inkedV platformv 15 andthe gear 28 is in Vmeshported by a series of bearings 3l. and preferably between the truckwheel 16 and 17 Y The vehicle may be locked preventing any one enter-`ing the vehicle or utilizing it in any way while with a gear 29 onv theend of the shaft 30 running underneath the fixed platform and supare apair of ears 32 and 33 preferably respectively adjacent the truck wheels17 and 16. These gears extend through apertures provided therefor in theplatform 15and engage the respective racks 34 and 35 secured to theunder side'of the movable platform 20. These racks may have guide plates36 thereon between which the gears 32 and 33 are positioned which tendto' hold the movable platform 2o from longitudi- Vnal.displacement butother means may be pro- 20 at its outermost end adjacent the gear 29khas a sprocket 49 and adjacent-the edge of the truck platform V15 isprovided a similarsprocket 41 through means of theV sprocket chain 42.Also, on the shaft of the sprocket 41 carried'a bar or plate 43l pivotedon the shaft of the sprocket 41 and, as will be understood from Fig. 6,associated with the sprocket 41 on the same shaft is a sprocket 44connected by means of a chain 45v with a sprocket 46 at the opposite endof lthe bar 43. On the shaft of this sprocket 46 is a gear y47, thislatter construction being more` clearly shown in the detail Fig. 6.

It will .thus be seen that, by operation of the motor and gear 28, theshaft 30 is driven by means of thefgear 29 and also the sprockets 40,41, 44, 46 and gear 47, due to the pivotal relation of the bar 43 on theshaft of the sprockets 41 and 44, the bar'and the sprocket 46 and gear47- may be raisedto' the dotted positions indicated in Fig.v 4 and whenin the full line position shown in Vthe saidV Fig. 4 the gear -47 isbrought to mesh with a gear'48 which is provided in 'each compartment 4or 5 o f the entire series.V This gear48 is on a'shaft 49 andpositionedon the shaft 49 in keach compartment areV On the shaft icol tothe meshing of the gears 32 and 33 with the racks 34 and 35 on themovable platform, the said movable platform is moved transversely fromthetruck onto the rollers 24 of the respective compartment. The racks onthe under side of Vthe movable platform in passing from the truck andengagement with the gears 32 and thereoncome to mesh with the gears 50which, beingdriven by the gear 47, complete the moving of theV movableplatform into a compartment after the racks have passed out of mesh withthe gears 32 and 33 of thetruck.

Likewise-in removing the movable platform ,l

with the goods thereon from the compartment to the truck, the gears 43and 38 are rotated in a reverse direction'by means of the motivepower orany intervening mechanical arrangement to produce the reverse rotationofthe gears 32 and 33. `Under this condition the gears 32 and 33 takecharge of the movableplatform as the racks thereon pass'out `of meshwith the gears 5G of the compartment. Thus, by this mechanism theplatform may be moved to or from the compartment mechanically and allnecessity of manual movement of the platform 20 and 'goods thereon isavoided. Due to the rollers provided both on the truck and the floor ofthe compartment heavy Weights such as automobiles `and other apparatusmay be moved easily.

Due to the fact of its being desirable tov provide a series ofcompartments'li in end to end relationship on one side of fthe elevatorshaft and passageways connecting therewith and compartments 5 likewisearranged on the opposite 'side of the elevator shaft, the mechanism fortransferring the platform 20 in a direction oppomay be arranged for theplacing thereon of goods and packages of various types, and when it isto be used for an automobile I preferably employ the channel orguideways 2l and 22 into which the wheels of the automobile pass inldriving the same onto the platform and the vehicle is thus held fromlateral displacement relative to the platform 20.

A pair of depressions 67 are provided in the platform 20 as shown inFig. 5 for the wheels at one end of the automobile to prevent theautomobile from longitudinal movement on the movable platform 20.

When used for the disposition of automobiles the platform preferably isprovided at each end with a hinged plate which is held in verticalposition by a releasable hook 6l or chain 62 both forms of which areshown in Fig. 5 at the opposite ends of the platform 20. In moving avehicle onto this platform 20 the platform is turned downwardly tocontact with the edge of the floor 7 of the longitudinal passagewayterminating at the elevator shaft and thus provides platform coveringthe interstice betweenthe floor and the platform 20 carried by themovable truck and when the vehicle has been positioned on `the platformthese end plates 6,0 are raised to upright position as shown in Figp,which will prevent the vehicle accidentally moving off from the platformwhile on the elevator.

From the foregoing description it 'will be'evident that the structuredescribed vembodiesV the various features and objects hereinafter setforth; that any character of goods or, material Within the capacity ofthe elevator, platform and compartments may be taken from the' streetlevel and stored in this structure whether either above or belowgroundthe structure of the building proper being practically identicalin either case although the arrangement of therelevatorv is somewhatdifferent in that when the struc-V ture is built above ground thevehicles are driven onto the elevator and lifted to the various runwaysextending outwardly from one or both sides of the elevator shaft to bedistributed laterally to the side compartments.

If the structure be built under ground the vehit will also arrangementof the longitudinal passageway-S or runways'a'da'pted for the passage ofamovable truck 'from'an'eleva-tor thereinto and alongthe passageway toany desired side compartment,and that by this arrangement the goods orvehicles stored in any compartment are practically instantly availableto be returned to the street surface irrespective as to whether thestructure be vbuilt above or below ground and in conjunction `with whichis provided the movableplatform on which the goods, merchandise, orvehiclelis originally placed in moving into 'thev building and remainingtherewith until its removal from the building. i l Having 'thusfullydescribed my' invention, its utility and mode of operationj what I claimVand vdesire to secure by Letters Patent of 'the' United States is- L Abuilding'for the storage of goods, merchandise, vehicles and the'like,.co`mprising`a plurality ofcfloors each having a longitudinalpassageway and compartments on each `of the opposite sides thereofjopentothe passageway, an elevator shaft substantially centrally of thestructure, the longitudinal passageways opening thereto on oppositesides, an elevator in said shaft, a

. truck carried by the elevator and movable therefrom onto and along thepassageways of a floor `with which the elevator maybe brought to prac-`tical registration, `a movable platform carried by the truck,anti-friction means on the truck for sustaining the movable platform, apair of racks on the under-side of the platform, a shaft supv ported bythe-truck, gears on the said shaft for engaging the respective'racks,each of thegcompartments also having anti-friction means onto which theplatform may be moved, a' shaft for each compartment having gearsthereon adapted to engage the racks as the platformA is moved from thetruck to the compartment, and power mechanism carried by the truck andadapted to be detachably connected with the shaft. of any compartmentwhereby both the shaft on the truck and the shaft of the compartment aresimultaneously operated and the platform first moved from in said shaft,a truck carriedA by the elevator, rails on the elevator and rails ineach passageway onto which the'truck may be moved from the elevator, aplatform on the truck, anti-friction means supporting the platformarranged to permit lateral movement thereof, power mechanism on 'thetruck for causing lateral movement of the platform, anti-friction meansin each compartment to any one of which the platform may be moved whenthe truclr is positioned adjacent thereto, mechanism vin eachcompartment also adapted to cause lateral movement of the platform, andmeans for connecting said mechanism with the power mechanism of thetruck whereby as the platform is moved from the truck by the powermechanism it is brought to operative relationship with the mechanism ofthe compartment and movement thereafter continued onto the compartmentas the platform leaves the truck.

3. In a building, a floor having a passageway and a series of storagespaces in succession along one side thereof opening to the-passageway, atruck movable along the passageway, a platform carried by the truck andmovable laterally thereof, means carried-by the truck for moving theplatform laterally therefrom into a storage space aligned therewith,means in each storage space operable to movetlie platform thereon to thetruck, and means carried by the truck and associated with said platformmoving means thereon adapted for detachable connection with the saidmeans in the aligned storagespace for operating the same to move theplatform from the storage space tothe truck. Y

4. In a building, .a floor having a passageway and aseries of storagespaces in succession along one side thereof and opening thereto, a truckmovable along the passageway, a platform carried by the truck andmovable laterally thereof, means carried by the truck for moving theplatform therefrom into a storage space aligned there- Y and connectedwith the platform on its movement `and a series of storage spaces alongone side thereof opening thereto, a truck movable along the passageway,aload supporting device carried by the truck, anti-friction means. onthe truck supporting the said load supporting means, mechanism on thetruck ,including apgear anda rack on 'the load supporting deviceengagedby the gear whereby through operation lof the gear the load supportingdevice Ymay be moved' into a storage space, a gear in each of the saidstorage spaces and engaged by lthe said rack upon movement into therespective storage space, andlmeans on the truck operable by said gearthereon; adapted for detachable driving connection with the said gear ofthe storage space-for operati` to move the load supporting devicefromthe, storage space to the truck.

C the; 53m@ Y

